Topics: Sharks

CHATHAM – Last summer's “Shark Smart” education program at Lighthouse Beach was a success and will be expanded to other locations this coming summer.
Marianna Long, Education Director at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, told park and recreation commissioners last week that while the exact number of people who stopped by to listen to interns talk about great white sharks three mornings a week was not track...

EASTHAM – The results of a 100-page shark mitigation study were released to the public last week and among all the compiled data there was one clear message: There is no solution available that can guarantee the safety of beachgoers determined to venture into the water during peak shark season. The report, and its primary message, was the subject of a public forum held Oct. 16 at Nauset Regional High School, duri...

BREWSTER – When it comes to living with white sharks, there are many options: stay out of the water, move inland, or, if you're Greg Skomal, a marine biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, you do all that you can to learn as much as you can about the creatures, and ideally save a life or two in the process.
Skomal has been doing just that—studying everything possible about white sharks—for more...

ORLEANS — It was a little too close for comfort for a surfer off Nauset Beach Friday morning, after a white shark passed within feet of his board.
“The whole experience still feels utterly surreal,” said Devon Zimmerman of Brooklyn, N.Y., reflecting on the encounter. Zimmerman was near the center of Nauset Beach, by the administration building, and had just paddled out.
“It couldn't have been more than five...

It was a little too close for comfort for a surfer off Nauset Beach Friday morning, after a white shark passed within feet of his board.
The surfer, identified as a man from Brooklyn, N.Y., was paddling off the center of Nauset Beach, near the administration building, when the shark was spotted. The scene was photographed by Joe Mault of Orleans Camera and Video, and seems to capture the surfer's surprise as ...

ORLEANS — For years, the technology has been as elusive as, well, great white sharks. Now, a system that can detect and report white sharks in real time is being tested at three Cape beaches, including Nauset.
On Tuesday, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app reported a white shark off Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet, the site of last year’s fatal shark attack. The shark wasn’t spotted by ...

CHATHAM – Shark warning signs have been installed at all town beaches and many town landings, and lifeguards are keeping a sharp eye out for seals near designated swimming areas.
As of late last week, lifeguards had observed three seals in Oyster Pond this summer, although none were within 300 feet of the swimming beach. Because the seals did not come close to the designated swimming area, the beach was not cl...

CHATHAM – The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy was created with public safety, research, and education in mind, and this summer the nonprofit is taking the public safety piece to heart with its new Shark Smart Beach Program at Lighthouse Beach.
Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday between 9 and 10 a.m., folks from the AWSC will be offering informational talks on sharks and shark safety.
“We want to increase t...

WELLFLEET — It was a hazy morning at Marconi Beach, but the message of those gathered on the bank above was clear: the six towns from Chatham to Provincetown and the Cape Cod National Seashore are working together on the challenge dealing with sharks in local waters.
Seashore Superintendent Brian Carlstrom hosted a press conference July 2 with Lower Cape town administrators and public safety officials to dis...

While on average four people each year are killed by sharks, over 100,000 sharks are killed by humans.
In fact, 32 percent of open ocean sharks, including the scalloped hammerhead and the whale shark, have been hunted in such high numbers that they are now in danger of going extinct.
These are some of the facts behind ocean conservationist William McKeever’s new book “Emperors of the Deep: Sharks—the Ocean’...

CHATHAM – A two-year study aimed at gaining a better understanding of the hunting and feeding behaviors of the region's great white sharks will get underway within the next few weeks. A collaboration between the state division of marine fisheries, the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, the new study involves placing tags containing accelerom...

CHATHAM — With high-tech barriers or deterrent systems apparently off the table for the 2019 summer season, town officials are preparing other measures designed to keep swimmers safe from sharks and seals. Those measures include better communication, patrols, and first aid kiosks on the outer beaches.
A memo from the parks and recreation department indicates that all lifeguard, beach patrol and harbor patrol...

BARNSTABLE — With TV camera crews from Boston circling like great white sharks, the board of county commissioners heard a proposal last week to use sound to move seals and sharks away from the Cape's off-shore swimming areas.
With the exception of coastal homes falling into the sea from eroding banks, off-Cape media attention is limited to the summer months and mostly concentrates on traffic jams and the wea...

Following Shark Barrier Loss At Town Meeting
CHATHAM — The message from voters at the annual town meeting was clear: Chatham shouldn’t be spending money on shark detection and mitigation at Oyster Pond Beach. But with swimming lessons starting up soon, selectmen are wondering what might still be done to improve safety for beachgoers. “Is there anything else we can do for Oyster Pond?” Selectman Peter Cocolis ...

CHATHAM – When visitors stop by Lighthouse Beach, they often ask anyone who looks like a local about what, for the past several years, has been the chief topic of interest here: great white sharks.
Making sure folks get accurate information about the region's shark population is the impetus behind a new program being proposed by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC). Under the “Shark Smart” program, AWSC...

CHATHAM — On the advice of the parks and recreation commission, selectmen this week reversed course on a proposal to move swimming lessons to Schoolhouse Pond as a precaution against sharks and seals. But the board is seeking new signs and better communications equipment to help lifeguards keep swimmers safe at Oyster Pond and all other town beaches.
On April 8, selectmen voted to have the commission conside...